System and method for predelivery notification using mail image

ABSTRACT

A method and system is provided for notifying an addressee about a mail piece having an address. The system captures an image of the mail piece and determines a communication channel for the addressee using the address from the mail piece. The system provides the addressee with the image via the communication channel.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromU.S. Provisional Application No. 60/282,158 by Michael J. Amato, filedApr. 9, 2001, the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD

The present invention relates to notification regarding delivery of amail piece. More particularly, the invention relates to methods andsystems for notifying an addressee that a mail piece has been, or isabout to be, delivered by providing the addressee with an image of themail piece.

BACKGROUND

Currently, delivery services, such as the United States Postal Service(USPS), provide mail delivery service to customers or “addressees”. Thedelivery services provide a wide range of delivery options, such asdelivery to home addresses, delivery to business addresses, and deliveryto mail boxes located at central offices such as post offices. Forexample, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has 16 million PostOffice (PO) boxes rented to customers (“holders”). Typically, when mailpieces arrives at a post office, a delivery service worker merely“cases” the mail pieces (i.e. places the mail pieces in the appropriatemail box or prepares the mail pieces for delivery to other locations,such as a home and business addresses) without notifying the addressee.A mail piece may be any type of correspondence handled by a deliveryservice, such as letters, packages, flats, catalogs, postcards, etc. Inthis situation, the addressee is unaware of the contents of their mailbox or mail pieces en route until they check their mail boxes at thepost offices or the mail piece is delivered to their home or business.The conventional addressee must therefore manage their mail boxesphysically and in person.

An addressee wastes time and transportation costs each time he or shemakes a trip to the post office and finds that the mail box containsonly standard, or low priority mail the holder would not have made atrip for, had he or she known the contents of the mail box. Manyaddressees do not want to go check their mail everyday; but instead onlywant to go when it contains something important, such as a check orother important documents. This is especially true if the addressee isnot located conveniently near the post office because a lengthy tripinvolves much time, effort, and expense. In addition, unnecessary tripsto the post office contribute to post office congestion. However,problems may occur when an addressee elects not to visit the post officeto check their mail box, and the mail box contains an importanttime-sensitive mail piece, such as an overdue bill or a perishable item.

Likewise, an addressee has no method to determine what mail pieces areen route to their home or business address. An addressee may wish toknow what type of mail pieces are en route to be delivered to locations,such as home and business mail boxes. This is especially true if theaddressee is waiting to receive an important document, such as checks orperishable items. This may also cause problems for people who have mailpieces addressed to delivery addresses, such as a vacation home address,home address, or business address, during a period that they are away.

One proposed solution to some of the problems of mail management usesthe PLANET code™ of the USPS, which is an applied barcode that uniquelyidentifies mail pieces from certain mailers. The PLANET code™ may beused to track a mail piece. That is, by submitting an inquiry, anaddressee may track the current location of a PLANET-coded mail piece,and determine the mailer. This method requires that the addressee knoweach mailer to whom a PLANET code™ is assigned. Another proposed PLANETcode™ solution, described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.60/239,926, entitled Flexible Parcel Delivery System and Method,inventors Edward J. Kuebert, Scott R. Bombaugh, and William J. Dowling,attorney docket No. 08049.6229-00000, filed Oct. 13, 2000, uses thePLANET code™ information to notify addressees that a mail piece is intransit.

However, to use this tracking capability, an addressee must know thatthe mail piece actually contains a PLANET code™, as well as otherinformation such as the PLANET code™ number. In addition, only a limitednumber of large volume mailers use a PLANET code™, so PLANET-code-basedsystems are limited to a small subset of all mail pieces. Thus, anaddressee generally cannot determine what mail pieces are in his PO boxor other delivery point; he can only find out about a limited subset ofPLANET coded mail. Further, this method requires that, the deliveryservice somehow associate the PLANET code™ with the mailer's name,address, and other notification information. This method involvescentralized database lookups, and, as noted, only applies to a largevolume mailers who are participating in the PLANET code™ program.

Another proposed solution to some of the disadvantages of mailmanagement is the “E-box Check” system of the USPS. E-box Check allows auser to go to a website and gain some information regarding mail piecesdelivered at, or en route to, their mail box. The E-Box Check system isdescribed further in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/245,670,entitled Remote Mailbox Management System and Method, inventor RonaldGarey, attorney docket No. 08049.6228-00000, filed Nov. 6, 2000.

However, E-box Check provides limited information about mail pieces;typically, the number of mail pieces and the mail class of each mailpiece in a mail box. For a subset of mail pieces that have a PLANETcode™, E-box Check can also provide sender identification information.E-box Check requires adding equipment and/or human processing to theexisting conventional delivery system. For example, either sensors (orother per-mail-box apparatuses) are needed to determine that a mailpiece is in a mail box, or a postal worker must “wand” a mail tray tonotify the E-box Check system that the mail has been cased.

Yet another proposed solution to some of the disadvantages of mailmanagement is the USPS's Reply Card Notification (RCN) system. The RCNsystem supplies an image of the back of a reply postcard (e.g., a cardto purchase compact discs from Columbia House Records Co.), to theaddressee. In the RCN system, the cards are first sorted conventionally,which segregates all the cards for a specific addressee. Then, the cardsare rerun backwards through the existing sorting machinery in order tocapture an image of the information on the back. The image is suppliedto the addressee.

However, in this method, it is difficult and inefficient to run thecards backwards through existing machinery. Putting cameras on bothsides to solve this problem may also increase the cost of the system.Also, the RCN service may only be provided to a very few specificaddressees—addressees who received a specific type of reply postcardscontaining information from customers. Further, the USPS may not provideassurance that images of all the cards had been provided. Due to thebusiness nature of the information in the image, an extremely highreadability rate, approaching 100 percent, may be required by theaddressee.

Accordingly, a need exists for systems and methods that efficiently andcheaply provide an addressee with information about the mail pieces enroute to, or already delivered to, the addressee's delivery point,particularly an addressee's mail box. A need exists for systems andmethods that efficiently make use of existing, in-place postal handlingequipment to provide the information to the addressee. Needed aresystems and methods that supply information concerning a largepercentage of the mail pieces handled by a delivery service, not merelya subset of mail pieces with certain delivery-service-applied codes.

SUMMARY

According to the present invention, an image of a mail piece that is enroute to a delivery address, or that has already arrived at an address(such as a PO box) is provided to the addressee. The invention useselectronic images to notify an addressee that a mail piece is en routeor has arrived. The image of the mail piece provides to the addresseeall the information available from a visual inspection the mail piece.Based on the mail piece image, an addressee can better manage his or hermail. In one aspect, the invention gives an addressee the ability toactually view the contents of their mail box from a front-of-the-letterstandpoint, without requiring the addressee to physically visit the postoffice or wait for the mail piece to arrive.

Systems and methods consistent with the principles of the presentinvention provide information so that addressee, such as PO Box holders,can wisely decide whether or not to visit the post office and retrievethe mail pieces in his or her mail box. For example, an addressee couldavoid unnecessary trips to the post office when their mail box is empty.Similarly, an addressee could make a special trip to the post office assoon as an eagerly anticipated mail piece, such as a check or a packagefrom a catalog company, is delivered. Also, an addressee can determinewhat type of mail pieces are en route to specific delivery addresses.

Systems and methods consistent with the principles of the presentinvention also provide visual information revealing the condition of amail piece in the possession of the delivery service. Thus, factsregarding when a mail piece was damaged and by whom can be moreaccurately determined.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory onlyand are not restrictive of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate aspects consistent with thepresent invention and together with the description, serve to explainthe principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of the stages of an exemplary process fornotifying addresses with mail piece images, consistent with certainaspects of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary system and flow of mailpieces consistent with certain aspects of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to specific exemplary aspectsconsistent with the present invention. Wherever possible, the samereference numbers will be used throughout the description to refer tothe same or like parts. The invention is described using certain aspectsinvolving mail as handled by a delivery services such as the USPS. Oneof ordinary skill in the art will recognize, however, that theprinciples of the present invention apply to any type of shipping ordelivery of objects or mail pieces from a sender to an addressee'sdelivery point.

A large percentage of the mail currently processed by delivery services,such as the USPS, is optically scanned, typically by capturing an imageof the front of a mail piece. A mail piece may be any type ofcorrespondence handled by a delivery service, such as letters, packages,flats, catalogs, postcards, etc. Existing sorting machines currentlycapture an image of a mail piece for the purpose of coding the mailpiece (putting an actual barcode on it) for sorting. The image isprocessed by an Optical Character Reader (OCR), which converts theaddress information into a ZIP Code barcode. The ZIP Code barcode is“sprayed” (printed) on the bottom front right portion of the mail piece.Coded mail pieces are easier to sort, because subsequent machines onlyhave to read and decode the barcode (without going through the OCRprocess) in order to route the mail piece to the addressed destination.

Currently, the mail piece images are discarded after a barcode issuccessfully applied. Systems and methods consistent with the principlesof the present invention, however, use the image of a mail piece toelectronically notify the addressee that a mail piece is currently in aspecific location, such as the addressee's PO box or en route to adelivery location.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process for supplyingan addressee with a mail image, consistent with certain aspects of thepresent invention. The process begins by scanning an image of a mailpiece (stage 105). In some delivery services, such as the USPS,practically all incoming mail pieces are processed by an Input SubSystem (ISS) with an OCR, which scans the front of each mail piece, thuscapturing an image. The image may used only to code the mail piece withan equivalent ZIP Code barcode. After the OCR process determines the ZIPCode, the image may be disposed of. However, in this aspect the image isretained after the optical character reading process is complete.

In stage 110, the delivery service determines whether the addressee ofthe mail piece desires mail image notification. This stage may beperformed by a computer system that accesses a database indexed by theaddress on the mail piece. If the database shows that the addressee ofthe mail piece has not signed up for image notification, then the mailpiece image is discarded (stage 115) and the process ends.

If the database shows that the addressee has signed up for imagenotification, then processing proceeds to stage 120, and the image ofthe mail piece flagged for forwarding to the addressee.

In the next stages, which may be performed simultaneously, the deliveryservice both notifies the addressee by forwarding a copy of the image tothe user (stage 125), and makes a copy of the image available for accessby the user (stage 130). For example, notification may be achieved byforwarding a copy of the image to the addressee by email and a copy ofthe image may be placed on a website for later viewing by the addressee.One skilled in the art, however, will quickly recognize thatnotification may be done by fax, cell phone, or via many othercommunication channels and need not include a copy of the image.

One of ordinary skill in the art will also recognize that the stages ofthe above process could be modified, deleted, or added to withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. For example, stages125 and 130 could be modified such that a full-size image or a“thumb-nail” image is sent to the addressee and no image is madeavailable on the website. The copy of the image transmitted to theaddressee may be compressed to reduce the size of the image.

In a variation of the method, only images of mail pieces that arescanned during conventional mail handling may be made available foraddressees. Alternately, the current conventional mail handlingprocesses may be supplemented with additional imaging equipment for mailpieces that would not otherwise be imaged. For example, barcode sortersfor presorted utility bills may be modified to capture an image of theentire mail piece.

In another variation during processing, an image may be gathered in theordinary course of an initial sorting procedure, and then retained untilthe last sorting method immediately before the mail piece is deliveredto its final addressed destination. Alternatively, the system maycollect the image during the final sorting operation. Also, images maybe collected and stored during each sorting operation the mail piecepasses through.

In another variation, the stage of notification may include determiningthe character of the mail piece and notifying the addressee of thecharacter. For example, the stage of notification may determine whetherthe mail piece is “flat mail” (i.e., an envelope) or a package.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary system and flow of mailpieces consistent with certain aspects of the present invention. FIG. 2shows a mailer 205, such as a utility company, sending out a mail piece210. A delivery service 215, for example the USPS, receives mail piece210 and processes and sorts it for delivery to the address written onmail piece 210.

During processing by delivery service 215, an imaging unit 220 capturesan image 225 of mail piece 210. Imaging unit 220 may be, for example, anOCR camera on a sorting machine that mail piece 210 passes through aspart of the conventional sorting process.

For example, only images of mail pieces that are scanned duringconventional mail handling are made available for addressees. The systemmay utilize images that are currently being captured by delivery servicesorting equipment for other purposes. Likewise, the current conventionalmail handling systems may be supplemented with additional imaging formail pieces that would not otherwise be imaged. For example, the barcodesorters for the presorted utility bills just discussed could be modifiedto capture an image of the entire mail piece.

Image 225 may be gathered in the ordinary course of an initial sortingprocedure, and then retained until the last sorting method right beforethe mail piece is delivered to its final addressed destination.Alternately, the system may collect image 225 during the final sortingoperation. Also, images may be collected and stored during each sortingoperation the mail piece passes through.

Image 225 may be provided in the form of a digital file encoded in astandard electronic image format, such as JPEG, TIFF, or GIF. Capturing,encoding, storing and transmitting digital images are all processes wellknown to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, a digitalscanner or digital OCR camera may capture the image and encode the imageas a digital file.

Image 225 is sent to a server 230 for storage and display. Triggered byreceipt of image 225, server 230 notifies the addressee located atcomputer unit 240 of mail piece 210 that the mail piece 210 is en route.

Server 230 may be a computer system that provides data, information,applications, images etc, via a network 235 to computer unit 240 at anaddressee's location. Server 230 may contain standard components forinputting, outputting, manipulating, and storing data. For example,server 230 may comprise a central processing unit (CPU), random accessmemory (RAM), video card, sound card, magnetic storage devices, opticalstorage devices, input/output (I/O) terminals, and a network interfacecard (NIC) (all not shown). Furthermore, server 230 may be configured toperform processes and functions consistent with certain features of thepresent invention, such as image notification. Also, server 230 maycomprise one or more storage devices that include information, such asaddressee information and program and system data. The storage devicesmay also include instructions, applications, and processes that performfunctions consistent with certain features related to the presentinvention.

Server 230 is configured to provide image notification and communicatewith computer unit 240. The process may be configured in the form of aprocess created using various programming languages or software suites.For example, the mail notification process may be a program written inthe Java™ programming language, hypertext markup language, or Cprogramming language.

Computer unit 240 may contain standard components for inputting,outputting, manipulating, and storing data. For example, the computerunit may comprise a central processing unit (CPU), random access memory(RAM), video card, sound card, magnetic storage devices, optical storagedevices, input/output (I/O) terminals, and a network interface card(NIC) (all not shown). Computer unit 240 may optionally be connected toa printer (not shown) through the I/O terminals. Examples of the I/Oterminals to which the printer may be connected are parallel, serial,universal serial bus, and IEEE 1394.

Computer unit 240 is connected to server 230 through a network 235. Forexample, network 235 may be a local area network (LAN) or wide areanetwork (WAN), such as the Internet, or wireless network.

Computer unit 240 is configured to receive mail notification, view mailimages, and communicate with server 230. The process may be configuredin the form of a process created using various programming languages orsoftware suites. For example, the mail notification receiving processmay be a program written in the Java™ programming language, hypertextmarkup language, or C programming language.

Several different methods may be used to notify the addressee of theimage. In one method, notification may be done via email to theaddressee's personal computer 240. In the case of email notification,the addressee located at computer unit 240 receives the emailnotification from server 230 transmitted across network 235. Theaddressee's email address is obtained from the addressee when he or shesigns up for an image notification service consistent with the presentinvention and is stored in a database (not shown) indexed by thedelivery address. Delivery service 215 creates a database entry linkingthe addressee's address, as would be found on a mail piece 210, to theemail address provided. When delivery service 215 receives a mail piece,it accesses the database, finds the addressee's email address based onthe address of the mail piece, and emails notification to the addressee.

Other channels of communication, such as fax, pager, etc. could be usedfor notification. The database may hold information on more than onetype of communication channel and one or many channels could be used tonotify an addressee. Notification preferably includes a description ofthe location of the mail piece at a specified time, such as: in LosAngeles, Calif. airport at 3 a.m. Oct. 20, 2000, or in PO box 1234,Merrifield, Va., at 2 p.m. Oct. 22, 2000. Server 230 may also use thedelivery address on mail piece 210 to find the addressee's email addressin the database.

Alternately, delivery service 215 may supply an email address to anaddressee who signs up for the image notification service. For example,delivery service 215 makes available an email login account and address,accessible through a website, much like Yahoo!® email and Excite^(SM)email. The email account is used for notification. Also, deliveryservice 215 may provide every addressee in the United States an emailaddress based on every physical address in the country. Thus, everyaddressee who signed up for the image notification service would alreadyhave an email address known to delivery service 215.

Likewise, server 230 may use an OCR process on image 225 to determinethe delivery address. Also, image 225 may include a ZIP Code barcodeapplied after an OCR process during conventional sorting, and server 230decodes the barcode to determine the delivery address. Also, deliveryservice 215 may send the delivery address of mail piece 210 along withimage 225 of mail piece 210, and server 230 uses the delivery addresssent. After finding the addressee's email address, server 230 emails amessage notifying the addressee about mail piece 210.

In another method of notification, the addressee may view image 225 asan attachment to the notification email. In this method, the addresseelocated at computer unit 240 receives the email notification from server230 transmitted across network 235. The addressee views image 225 byaccessing the attachment to the email. The addressee may also storeimage 225 on a local storage device.

In another method of notification, the addressee located at computerunit 240 may receive the email notification from server 230 transmittedacross network 235. In this case, the email may contain a link to a filecontaining image 225 stored at a server 230, and the addressee connectsto the server via network 235 to view image 225. For example, image 225may be stored as a html web page and the addressee may access image 225using a web browser installed on computer unit 240.

Meanwhile, delivery service 215 routes mail piece 210 to the addresseddestination, such as a PO box 245 or a residence 250.

In the above system, server 230 was described as being remotely locatedfrom delivery service 215. One skilled in the art would realize thatserver 230 may be located at delivery service 215. One skilled in theart would also realize that server 230, located at delivery service 215may also perform other functions related to mail piece processing, suchas OCR processing on the mail pieces.

In email notification methods described above, an addressee receives anemail message notifying him or her that a mail piece is their PO box.The email may include a thumbnail-size image of the mail piece or a fullsize image. Likewise, a thumbnail-size image of the mail piece or a fullsize image may be stored on server 230.

Further, one skilled in the art would realize that the imaging of themail piece by the system illustrated in FIG. 2 may occur at any timeduring the mail piece delivery process. For example, an addressee is notnotified with a mail piece image 225 until mail piece 210 is deliveredto its address destination, such as a PO box 245 or residence 250. Thenotification is triggered by the last sorting operation that takes placebefore mail piece 210 is delivered to its addressed destination. Whenmail piece 210 hits the last sort, or at a predetermined time afterward,the addressee is notified. Likewise, image notification may be preformedeach time mail piece 210 passes through a sorting machine en route froma sender 205 to its address destination. Thus, the addressee can trackmail piece 210 in transit to P.O. boxes 245 or residence 250.

For example, consider a system consistent with the present inventionthat emails to a PO box holder images of the mail pieces recentlydelivered to his or her PO box. The PO box renter views an image of afirst-class letter from General Electric Utilities of Macon, Ga.; animage of a bulk-class catalog from Shopper's Food Warehouse, and animage of a small parcel from the United States Mint in Philadelphia, Pa.By looking at these images, the PO box renter can make an informeddecision on whether to spend the time and money to make a trip to thepost office to retrieve these mail pieces, or whether to wait untiladditional mail pieces are delivered before going to the post office.

For another example, consider a system consistent with the presentinvention that emails to an addressee a message telling him to access aspecified website for information concerning a mail piece en route tohis or her home. Upon accessing the website, the addressee is presentedwith the image of a first-class letter that is en route to his or herhome from Gray Investment Corp. of Alameda, Calif. The addressee alsolearns that the image was taken by sorting equipment in the Los AngelesAirport on that same day. Expecting a check from Gray Investment Corp.and based on the image information, the addressee goes home at lunch thenext day to pick up his or her mail, so that the check can be depositedwithout delay.

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled inthe art from consideration of the specification and practice of theinvention disclosed herein. For example, one skilled in the art wouldrealize that the principles of the present invention encompass deliveryservices that sort mail pieces completely manually, but could use adigital camera solely for the purpose of capturing images to use fornotifying addressees. It is intended that the specification and examplesbe considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of theinvention being indicated by the following claims.

1. A method for notifying an addressee about an item having an addressand being processed by a delivery service, comprising the steps of:capturing an image of the item after receipt of the item by the deliveryservice; determining a communication channel for the addressee using theaddress from the item; and notifying the addressee of the item via thecommunication channel.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the item is amail piece.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein notifying comprisesproviding the addressee with the image.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the step of capturing an image includes the step of: capturing adigital image of the item and processing the digital image using anOptical Character Reader system.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thestep of determining a communication channel includes the step of:looking up an email address for the addressee in a database using theaddress from the item.
 6. The method of claim 3, wherein the step ofproviding the addressee with the image includes the step of: emailingthe image to the addressee.
 7. The method of claim 3, wherein the stepof providing the addressee with the image includes the step of: emailinga website address to the addressee; and accessing the website address toview the image.
 8. The method of claim 1, further including the step of:determining the sender from the captured image.
 9. The method of claim1, further including the step of: determining the character of the mailpiece from the provided image.
 10. A method for informing an addresseehaving an address about a mail piece having the address and beingprocessed by a delivery service, comprising the steps of: supplyingcommunication channel information to a delivery service; storing thecommunication channel information based on the address; capturing animage of the mail piece during processing by the delivery service;retrieving the stored communication channel information based on themail piece's address; and sending the image to the addressee via theretrieved communication channel.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein thestep of supplying communication channel information includes the stepof: supplying an email address, and wherein the step of sending theimage to the addressee via the retrieved communication channel includesthe step of: emailing the image to the addressee.
 12. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the step of storing the communication channelinformation based on the address; includes the step of: storing thecommunication channel information in a database, indexed by the address.13. A system for notifying an addressee about a item having an addressand being processed by a delivery service, comprising: means forcapturing an image of the item after receipt of the item by the deliveryservice; means for determining a communication channel for the addresseeusing the address from the item; and means for notifying the addresseeof the item via the communication channel.
 14. The system of claim 13,wherein the notifying means comprises means for providing the addresseewith the image.
 15. A system for informing an addressee having anaddress about a item having the address and being processed by adelivery service, comprising: means for supplying communication channelinformation to a delivery service; means for storing the communicationchannel information based on the address; means for capturing an imageof the item by the delivery service; means for retrieving the storedcommunication channel information based on the item's address; and meansfor sending the image to the addressee via the retrieved communicationchannel.